Stafford Pulls Funding For School Resource Officers

STAFFORD, TX – For the first time in 37 years, the Stafford Municipal School District will not have school security provided by the City of Stafford at the city’s expense when school starts next month.

By a vote of 6-1, the Stafford City Council chose to stop paying $185,193 for three Stafford Police Officers to serve as SROs at Stafford MSD ahead of the coming school year.

The decision by the city comes nearly three months after a 17-year-old student gunned down 23 people inside Santa Fe High School, killing eight students and two teachers.

School Board Trustee Greg Holsapple, who has served on the SMSD board since the early 1990s, said it’s surprising, considering the City’s longtime support of security in SMSD.

“Furnishing the School Resource Officers is something the City wanted to do to improve safety on campus,” Holsapple said. “That is something that the city has boasted about for years. It’s been a feather in their cap. That is why I am perplexed as to why they would change course, especially on such an important matter.”

The so-called change by the city comes as school districts all over Texas -- and particularly in Santa Fe ISD -- are taking a harder look at school security issues, with many considering measures such as arming school teachers or adding metal detectors to their campuses.

Throughout school district's history, the City of Stafford had a strong commitment to ensuring the safety of Stafford MSD students, faculty and staff.

Stafford MSD Board of Trustees President Christopher Caldwell said the council decision hampers the district’s ability to provide a safe learning environment for the students, and safe place for teachers and staff.

“As President of the Board, it is my top priority to provide a safe environment for our kids. We will continue to work with the city to provide that safe environment,” Caldwell said. “I am disappointed that the City decided to change course after 37 years of supporting school safety at SMSD.”

Stafford MSD, the only school district in Texas that falls under the jurisdiction of a city government, has had two school resources officers on their campuses since the district was formed in 1982.

Throughout the district’s history, the two officers have been provided at city expense to provide security to students and staff. There were plans to add a third officer for the 2018-19 school, and according to Stafford Mayor Leonard Scarcella, he thought an agreement with Stafford MSD was almost a done deal.

“Somehow we hit a snag in the roadway, and I was requested to present an MOU [memorandum of understanding] of what we were supposed to be paying for as a city, and what they are supposed to be paying for,” he said Wednesday.

The city was unable to find an MOU because there was never a document, and according to Scarcella and Stafford Police Chief Richard Ramirez, and agreement has to be in place before an officer can be added.

Ramirez said he initially didn’t believe the district and the city needed an agreement, but then he checked the state statute and found that an agreement had to be in place even though Stafford is a Municipal School District.

According to the Texas Government Code the city and the school must have an agreement in place to give jurisdiction to the police officers on campus. The code also states that services provided by the city to another government entity must be reimbursed.

“In order for us to provide services to another government entity...we can’t do that service at no cost,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez said when he went to the school district and asked them to draft the MOU, they failed to get it done.

District officials will be discussing the issue of school security at a meeting on Aug. 2, and Ramirez said he believes the district will come to an agreement with the city that will be adopted before the start of school next month.

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